nicelyadv.adj.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 839/2 Nycely, straungly, coyement, nicement.

1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 418/2 He..giueth it, but so nicely y^t men may but licke their fingers with it (as the Prouerbe is).

a1600 R. Hooker Answere Supplic. W. Travers (1612) 15 Is it not their want to speake nicely of things definitiuely set downe in that councell?

1695 Ld. Preston tr. Boethius Of Consol. Philos. ii. 44 She, who nicely conceals herself to others, is wholly displayed and open to thee.

1547 Certayne Serm. or Homilies (new ed.) sig. Iiij They would, (as it wer) nicely take a flye out of their cuppe, and drynke doune a whole Camell.

1591 J. Harington Briefe Apol. Poetrie in tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso sig. ¶viij Some more nicely, found fault with so many two sillabled and three sillabled rimes.

1618 S. Latham New & 2nd Bk. Falconrie xi. 36 If you doe finde her to bee tutchie or nicely addicted,..then must you forbeare to practise..in the day time with her.

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 374 Thou shalt have cause To wish thou never hadst rejected thus Nicely or cautiously my offer'd aid. View more context for this quotation

1713 G. Sewell Observ. upon Cato (ed. 2) 17 Nicely the Limbs they Taste, reject, and chuse, And more than half the Roman Host refuse.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1781 II. 364 Such small particulars are intended for those who are nicely critical in composition.

1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle iv. ii. sig. Ciii Now I sir knowing of euery doore the pin. Came nycely, and said no worde, till time I was within.

1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. D He treads nicelie, as one that daunceth vpon a lyne.

1605 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes II. §12 As nettles, which if they bee nicely handled, sting and pricke.

1613 J. Donne Epithalamion 75 What mean those ladies which, as tho' They were to take a clock to pieces, go So nicely about the bride?

1635 G. Wither Coll. Emblemes iii. 153 They who tread not nicely on their tops, Shall on a suddaine slip from all their hopes.

1661 R. Flecknoe Erminia i. iv. 8 The world's so foul and durty, how nicely one must go, and step by step pick out their way.

1714 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus (ed. 3) II. vi. vi. 20 Some..Treading as nicely with their Legs, As if the Streets were pav'd with Eggs, And that they fear'd their weighty Heels Should crack or incommode the Shells.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King Lear (1623) v. iii. 135 What safe, and nicely I might well delay, By rule of Knight-hood, I disdaine and spurne.

a1677 T. Manton Serm. Psalm cxix, civ in Wks. (1872) VIII. 5 To stand nicely upon terms of duty is to run in harm's way.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 11. ⁋4 There are Women who are not nicely Chast, and Men not severely Honest, in all Families.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. ii. 182 She had also observed how modest I was in my Nature, how nicely I regarded my Honour.

1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. v. 357 Nicely tender of his reputation.

1819 J. A. Hillhouse Percy's Masque v. ii. 106 Douglas; Born of a race which nicely guards its honour.

1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters i. 8 For a man who had often looked death in the face, he had remained nicely tender of human life.

1868 E. Bulwer-Lytton Chrons. & Characters II. 172 Where's the Prince..more decorous, or more circumspect Than I, more nicely careful to maintain Proper appearances in men and things.

1597 R. Tofte Laura iii. viii. sig. D5^v The fond behauiour of both which to see, Who so but nicely markes, will say the same.

1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron II. vii. ix. f. 49 He opened wide his mouth, the which nicely shee surueyed on either side.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iv. vii. 301 When we necely [sic]reflect upon them, we shall find [etc.].

1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 153 Here studious I..lost blunders nicely seek.

1738 S. Johnson Sarpi in Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 582/1 It being his Custom to draw a Line under any Passage which he intended more nicely to consider.

1785 F. Pilon Fair Amer. i. 27 This is no great proof, Carbine, of your having considered the young lady's person so nicely.

1828 C. M. Sedgwick Romance in Real Life in N. P. Willis Legendary 147 I do not care very nicely to analyze my feelings.

1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. xiv. 198 The Privy Council had been obliged to levy men without looking nicely to their antecedents.

1871 S. Smiles Character iv. 115 His action becomes suspended in nicely weighing the pros and cons.

1935 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 46 83 Our objective..is to analyze as nicely as we can the interconnections between art and morals.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) v. ii. 94 Happily a Womans Voyce may doe some good, When Articles too nicely vrg'd, be stood on. View more context for this quotation

1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (cxxxix. 13 Annot.) 676/2 It..is not so strictly or nicely to be taken, as to denote a creation.

1651 W. Davenant Gondibert iii. v. 313 Pray'rs plain Temple..though not grac'd with curious cost for show, Was nicely kept; and now must be as clean As Tears make those who thence forgiven goe.

1697 J. Vanbrugh Æsop v. 57 Be clean in your clothes, but nicely so in your persons.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 553 He used to pare his nails very nicely.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 592 Another workman is occupied in drying very nicely the surface of the glass that is to be silvered.

1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray I. i. 5 Her caps were..clean only as decency might require—not nicely clean with feminine care.

1904 Collier's 7 May 20/3 (advt.) A hexagon three jointed, split bamboo nickel mounted rod, made of selected stock, six strips carefully glued and nicely finished.

1994 Chicago Tribune 3 July xvii. 1/1 Sad that a car so nicely redesigned to look huge from the outside still has munchkin capacity to hold humans in the back seat.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. iv. 90 Two winking Cupids Of Siluer, each on one foote standing, nicely Depending on their Brands.

1638 H. Adamson Muses Threnodie 79 A stone so neicely set upon its kernels.

1697 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ I. i. viii. 43 Amphitheaters,..were not nicely Orbicular, but Oval.

1715 J. Arbuthnot Let. 9 July in A. Pope Lett. (1735) I. 107 A Translation nicely true to the original.

1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 236 A small portable Balance..so nicely made that..the thousandth Part of a Crown will sensibly turn the Scale.

1793 J. O'Keeffe Sprigs of Laurel i. ii. 15 Handsome suit of clothes, fit you nicely.

1845 E. A. Poe Tales 169 The gravities of the body, and of the bulk of water displaced, are very nicely balanced, and..a trifle will cause either to preponderate.

1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 23 It consists of a needle nicely poised on a point.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xx. 551 [The bird's] wings are no longer striking, but they are adjusted every moment as nicely as the sails on a racing yacht, though in a different way.

1990 N.Y. Woman Oct. 43/2 She..serves as chair of the Museum of Modern Art's painting and sculpture committee, a position that dovetails nicely with her private enthusiasm for and acquisitions in contemporary art.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 123 Such as are provoked, judge more nicely.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 115 He..Files off the Bur..that he may the better and nicelier discern how well he has begun.

1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels I. 68 A due Recompence nicely awarded, according to the Behaviour of each Man in Particular.

1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. i. xvi. 110 If I do not nicely understand your Proportion of Squares, and such Things, you must excuse me, at present.

1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 329/2 A wire..being found suitable for enabling the eye to estimate very nicely the shade of the intercepted light.

1864 A. Bain Senses & Intellect (ed. 2) i. ii. 124 A very feeble impression cannot be nicely discriminated.

1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. xix. 228 Nothing could have been more adequate, more nicely measured, than his courtesy to his wife's old friend.

1964 E. Bowen Little Girls i. iii. 28 The decor nicely estimated the patrons' likings; tables low, chairs sympathetic and carpet costly.

1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 May 4/1 The Gonzaga..were..a condottiere family, who eked out their revenues by nicely calculated warfare on behalf of more powerful neighbors.

1690 J. Norris Christian Blessedness 73 'Tis not safe..to nourish a Passion, which..borders so nicely upon Hatred.

1698 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 20 315 This nicely differs from the Amaranthus Siculus spicatus..in having rounder Leaves.

1702 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 23 1262 This and No. 271 are nicely different, if not the same.

1714 D. Manley Adventures of Rivella 119 A Bed nicely sheeted and strow'd with Roses, Jessamins or Orange-Flowers.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. iv. 35 The walls on the inside were nicely white-washed.

1822 Ld. Byron Vision of Judgm. xcix In two octavo volumes, nicely bound.

1860 Rutledge 30 The tea tasted very nicely out of the thin china cup.

1881 ‘Rita’ My Lady Coquette iii How nicely you have done your hair to-night.

1914 M. Sinclair Three Sisters lxiii. 372 I don't mean horridly stout, dear, just nicely and comfortably stout.

1932 E. Le Gallienne & F. Friebus Alice in Wonderland i. 10 She is such a dear quiet thing,..and she sits purring so nicely by the fire.

1994 Chesley (Ont.) Enterprise 29 June 11 (advt.) Three bedroom home situated on a large lot. Pine Floors, redrywalled and nicely decorated.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. ii. 49 They began to intercede for my spouse (so nicely had I turn'd the tables).

1778 F. G. Waldron Maid of Kent i. 18 I gave my father the slip nicely—and here he is yet.

1785 J. O'Keeffe Peeping Tom of Coventry i. iv. 13 You little rogue, how nicely you gave me the slip just now!

1846 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Wks. II. 31/2 Your flesh, properly cured, might hang up nicely against the forthcoming bean-season.

1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights II. x. 220 Zillah received me, and saying ‘the lad was mending nicely,’ showed me into a small..apartment.

1880 ‘Mrs. Forrester’ Roy & Viola I. 19 It is a great thing to have provided so nicely for yourself.

1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xxxv. 272 Here we are, all back again, nicely sunburned and rejoicing.

1943 Times 31 May 10/8 Aurelia Weatherbournes generally do quite nicely, thank you, on council estates.

1994 Dog World Aug. 37/2 The subplots are as thought-provoking as the main plot, the suspense builds nicely and the ending is satisfying.

1864 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. xxxix. 313 He came to Alice full of regret, and behaved himself very nicely.

1871 G. MacDonald At Back of North Wind xvii. 166 When they talked to him nicely he had always a good answer, sometimes a smart one, ready.

1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. vi. 104 Treat servants nicely, take an interest in them, and they'll do anything for you.

1991 Photo Answers June 17/1 I always make sure I ask first. If you approach people nicely they're always okay about it.

2000 J. Goodwin Danny Boy i. 15 We all know what to do with puppies..you kick them in the gob to get rid, because they just won't go away if you ask nicely.